POTENTIAL ANTHROPOSOL DEVELOPMENT USING PHOSPHOGYPSUM AS A SUBSTRATE WITH SOIL AND ORGANIC AMENDMENTS

• Author / Creator

  Abou Rizk, Jenna S

• Phopshopgypsum is a byproduct of phosphate fertilizer production resulting from the production of phosphoric acid from phosphate rock (Rutherford et al. 1994a). Most reclamation plans for phosphogypsum stacks include a cover system that is installed over the stack; thus research in the area of phosphogypsum has been mainly related to capping depths.
  Use of phosphogypsum in building anthroposols for reclamation and/or agricultural uses would require amendments to ameliorate its undesirable properties. Experiments were conducted on the potential for use of phosphogypsum as a substrate or soil building material by assessing plant performance and health, hydraulic conductivity, leachate content and select microbiological properties.
  
  Phosphogypsum amended with topsoil, specifically clay topsoil in approximate ratios of 40 to 50 % by volume, resulted in increased plant height, health and biomass. Addition of greater than 60 % sandy soil by volume resulted in a more optimal hydraulic conductivity and reduced the concentrations of components of leachate to meet Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment guidelines for aquatic life and agricultural use. A microbiological community was present in phosphogypsum, mainly composed of gram positive bacteria, fungi, denitrifiers and sulphate reducers. Addition of an anionic solution to phosphogypsum mixes with soil increased these numbers and addition of a sandy soil to phosphogypsum increased the number of gram negative bacteria. Thus amending phosphogypsum would be potentially useful as a soil building material or substrate.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Hydraulic
  • Anthroposol
  • Amendments
  • Soil
  • Organics
  • Phosphogypsym

• Graduation date

  Fall 2015

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3TM72C3C

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.